SMS Isn’t Dead, It’s Alive and Well (Part 1 of 5)

As the number one preferred communication channel for consumers, text messaging has become top of mind as a way for businesses in all industries to engage with their customers. In response, the following is the first in a five-part series helping companies gain a deeper understanding of SMS and the best way to implement it as part of a comprehensive mobile engagement strategy.

Texting is the number one preferred channel of millennials for notifications from businesses. As SMS continues to be a critical factor in the future of customer engagement along with the growth of millennials, it’s not only important for brands to understand SMS, it’s vital to their relevance.

You’re invited to follow “Sam,” who is the lead character in this SMS-based comic series, for insight into the various life situations he encounters that reveal the many ways SMS can be used today. Topics will range from the serious – to the seriously hilarious.

Before the series unfolds, let’s give you a bit of background on Sam. He is an SMS expert, passionate about enhancing customer experience for businesses worldwide. Sam lives with his wife, Jane, his two kids and his grandmother, known as Gran. We’re introduced to Sam as he interviews for a new role at ABC Communications, a global company looking to bring in a customer experience expert to help them improve customer satisfaction levels and increase their Net Promoter Score. Sound like a familiar need?

In this installment, Sam meets his potential new boss, Mr. Sneed, as he goes for his first interview at ABC Communications. It turns out that SMS wasn’t the first customer engagement solution they had in mind.

Later that day, Sam gets a text message from the company’s recruitment team…

Sam’s experiences bring to light very common scenarios for using SMS in today’s business-to-consumer world. In fact, Fortune 2000 companies like ABC Communications are creating simple and effective text messaging solutions for engaging with their target audiences. Despite the growing adoption of the mobile channel, research shows that millennials are only receiving 0-5 text messages from businesses a week, with 20 percent not receiving any text at all.

The aim of this series is to open business leaders’ eyes to the massive missed opportunity for customer engagement via SMS messaging. Join in for next month’s installment featuring more SMS use cases that help deliver better business outcomes and higher levels of customer service.